GLENDALE Jeff Carter Jersey , Ariz. — Knights are well into their second NHL season, they’re finally starting to resemble an expansion team.The Arizona Coyotes? Much like the Golden Knights, they don’t look anything like they did a season ago. The Golden Knights and Coyotes meet for the first of four times this season on Wednesday at Gila River Arena, and the two desert rivals couldn’t be more dissimilar than they were in the 2017-18 season.Article continues below ...Then, in its first NHL season, Vegas won four of five from Arizona, two in overtime.The Coyotes were 2-14-3 through 19 games a season ago; now they’re 9-9-1.The Golden Knights, a surprise team from start to finish in an inaugural season in which they reached the Stanley Cup Final, were 15-6-1 through 22 games; now they’re 9-12-1 — and have the same number of points (19) as the Coyotes despite playing three more games.“They’re not going to surprise people this season http://www.officialkings.com/authentic-adidas-jonathan-quick-jersey ,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said Tuesday. “Everybody’s ready for them. Maybe there’s a little bit of the Stanley Cup Final hangover. But they’re still a hard-working team and they’ve got a lot of pieces.”The two franchises illustrate how quickly poor teams can get better, and good teams can quickly fall off, in modern day American pro sports.The teams’ last two games show that, too.The Golden Knights breezed to a 6-3 win on Sunday at Edmonton, a Oilers loss that helped lead to the firing of coach Todd McLellan and Vegas’ second win in three games.But the next night, they fell behind by seven goals in a 7-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Monday.“It’s hard to believe this happen the way we played (Sunday) night, but that’s hockey I guess,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “I’m pretty disappointed and I hope they (the players) are disappointed because they didn’t show up.”They were.“There’s too many games where that’s happened,” Vegas forward Reilly Smith said. And teammate Nick Holden said Nate Thompson Jersey , “It was a lack of effort. … It looked like we were two steps behind. It can’t happen again.”Now, the Golden Knights will play their third game in four nights during a challenging stretch in which they’ll play five games in seven days. They’ll get only Thursday off after the game against the Coyotes before playing another back-to-back, against Calgary and San Jose.Arizona beat Nashville 2-1 on Thursday. But after beating the team that owns the NHL’s best record, the Coyotes turned around two nights later and wasted long stretches of dominance while losing 2-1 to the Boston Bruins in a game they outshot Boston 18-1 during a span of more than 30 minutes.“I think there are some individuals who have to play better for us,” Tocchet told radio station KQFN. “We’re the type of team that can’t have four to five guys in each game playing below average. We’re the type of team that needs to have everyone play well and contribute.”Despite putting together a five-game winning streak three weeks ago, the Coyotes have lost five of seven. Vegas has lost four of six.One reason is goal scoring; through Tuesday games, Arizona was second-to-last in scoring with 48 goals (2.53 per game); Vegas was tied for 22nd in the 31-team NHL with 57 goals (2.59 per game).Marc-Andre Fleury (9-8-1) is expected to be back in goal for Vegas after backup Malcolm Subban gave up seven goals on 32 shots in Calgary. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper (4-5-1) is expected to make his eighth consecutive start for Arizona, although starter Antti Raanta (lower-body injury) could return for a Friday home game against the Colorado Avalanche.The Coyotes, currently thin on the blue line Authentic Oscar Fantenberg Jersey , also could welcome back defensemen Alex Goligoski (lower body) and Jakob Chychrun (upper body) as early as Wednesday.“We’re playing a lot of teams in our division (right) now. This is a big game for us,” Tocchet said. “It’s a proverbial four-point game. More than ever, we want to be a consistent team in division games.” ST. LOUIS — Is it too early for desperation from the St. Louis Blues?“I think that we’re still a little bit in a process of realizing, just remembering how hard it is and how desperate you have to play and do things well in order to win hockey games,” Blues coach Mike Yeo told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.After earning just one point in a disjointed first two games, both on home ice, the Blues hope to find that winning level as they host the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.Article continues below ...St. Louis players and coaches have said it will take time to jell after turning over more than half of its top 12 forwards from last season. But they also realize that time is precious in the ultra-competitive Central Division.“Guys that are playing well are going to play and guys that maybe don’t deserve as much ice time aren’t going to get it,” Yeo told the Post-Dispatch. “We’re here to build our team and we have to make sure we’re on top of that.“Now that said, obviously we have to be mindful of our young players Tanner Pearson Jersey , but I don’t think we want to lose hockey games because we’ve got Vladdy Tarasenko sitting on the bench or Jaden Schwartz sitting in the bench too. We’ve got to walk that line.”The Blues could get some help on the blue line as veteran defenseman Joel Edmundson is expected to make his season debut against the Flames. Edmundson missed the first two games with a sore groin.“We got some contact,” Yeo told the Post-Dispatch following Tuesday’s practice. “There will probably be a little more battle, a little bit more engagement in the physical side of things tomorrow. He got a little bit of it today. Today was a lot of up and down the ice, which I think was good for him, too. Another good day for him tomorrow and hopefully he’s ready to go.”The Flames took two out of the three games against the Blues last season, but St. Louis won the only contest played on home ice.After dropping the season opener, Calgary has won its last two and is coming off of a 3-0 win at Nashville on Tuesday. Center Sean Monahan scored twice against the Predators, giving him four goals on the season, and goalie Mike Smith made 43 saves for his 37th career shutout.“Obviously it starts with Smitty Jonny Brodzinski Jersey Womens , he played great for us,” Monahan told NHL.com. “When you get goaltending like that it makes you go even more (motivated). So I think you start to play for him and you get some timely goals. I think we played good all around.”Calgary is riding hot special teams play. The Flames went 2-for-4 on the power play and killed off all four of the Predators’ man advantages, including a full two minutes on a 5-on-3.“Our power play was good tonight again, PK did a great job, especially that 5-on-3,” Flames left winger Johnny Gaudreau told NHL.com. “We were smart with the puck, getting in their zone and playing down low in their zone. Found a way to get a couple of goals, get the lead and just keep playing the same way throughout the game.”